Scariest Light EVER

So a couple weeks ago, I was driving along all happy...

AND THEN:

This little light of doom turned on.

AHHHHH!!!!!!!!

When I see this light, I just imagine my car engine blowing up and me getting into a catastrophic accident.

The light seriously terrifies me.

The engine of a car is most important, needed, big, complicated, and expensive part of the car! And I know absolutely nothing about them.

So when a "check engine" light turns on, I freak out.

The light has turned on once before. And it was because I did not screw the gas cap on completely. Why would a lose gas cap be considered a big enough reason to turn the "check engine" light one!? Come on! Make a separate light for "check gas cap".

So I checked that right away.

All nice and snug.

Oh no....

We have been so lucky as to not having to deal with severe car problems since we've been married and it looked like our luck streak was up.

Stupid yellow car...

So then I did what every girl does when she has a car problem:

I called my dad.

Right away, he told me to check the gas cap.

Been there, done that!

Then he said to just wait a while and it should turn off.

(He has the same car)

Oh Heck No!

There was no way I was going to drive a car around town with a check engine light on! I was putting not only my life in danger, but fellow drivers and pedestrians!

No way jose...

So I took it to a little mechanic shop that I had a coupon for.

(Yay for coupons!)

I guess cars these days are pretty high-tec, even yellow ones, and a computer can just read why the car's check engine light turned on.

Genius.

The car guy told me that something was wrong with the evap something and that he doesn't have the tools to fix that problem. He told me to take the car into the dealership.

The dealership?!

Oh no!

Dealership= EXPENSIVE!

But luckily, he told me the car won't blow up and I should be safe for a while, but that I should still take it in ASAP.

I call my dad again. He doesn't know what to do and still tells me to tighten the gas cap and wait.

In the meantime, I Google evap problems. I see big words and get sad. Spending money on this kind of stuff stinks!

Stupid yellow car...

So I finally call the dealership. I get transferred around for a while and then finally they transfer me to a guy with a scruffy voice. I pictured him being old, tattooed, buff, and with a beard. I wish I remembered his name. But he was really kind! He was very patient with me and my lack of car knowledge. He explained that it would cost $98 for them to do a diagnostic test thingy. But he told me that a lot of the time, people who have had the same problem as me have brought their car in to have the test done, only to find out the $12 gas cap needed to be replaced. He suggested that it might be smart to just buy the gas cap first and see if that works.

I love people like this guy. Rather than making up some big deal and taking advantage of me, he gave me some good advice!

So now I had hope.

I drove to the dealership and bought a new gas cap!

I don't know if the guy I spoke to on the phone the day before was the same guy who helped me, but the guy who helped me was exactly how I pictured him. And he was also nice!

So with new gas cap on, I made the effort to purposefully drive around as much as possible that day, in hopes of the scary light turning off.

But the light didn't turn off that day,

or the next day,

or the day after that.

I was sad.

I thought about the stupid light constantly and feared for my life every time I got in the car. This is not the way to live my life!

Finally, I decided we would just have to shell out the cash and pay for the car to be fixed.

DARN.

That was until...

I was driving home from the gym one evening and glanced down at the oh-so-familiar scary light...

AND

it was gone!

I started screaming and jumping around in the car!

I was so happy and excited I could hardly contain myself, let alone drive.

When I got home I ran inside and told Kevin!

This was like one of the happiest moments of all time.

Wonderful yellow car...

So the "Check Engine Light" is no longer terrorizing me.

And life is good.

All this worry over a stupid gas cap.

LAME!

And we definitely counted this blessing...

'I'll Be There for You..."

We have Friends!

Kevin & I are owners of the complete series of FRIENDS!

We have sporadically purchased a season or two here and there when a good deal came about. We thought it would take years before we were able to own them all.

That was until...

BLACK FRIDAY

Target had each season on sale for $8.99.

Can you believe that?!

For our first trip to Target, we only bought 2 seasons.

Throughout the rest of the day, I couldn't get my mind off of how good of a deal we got! So we decided that we might as well just buy the rest of the seasons since there would NEVER be a deal like that ever again.

So we did.

Our collection of TV shows on DVD is really starting to grow. We used to just buy movies. But now we are all about the TV shows.

And Friends is just too funny! I love them.

Oh my blogger-boo

So this past week has been pretty craaaazy. You know how finals go.

I have one last final to take.

The BEAST of them all.

It took me over 2 hours to take the midterm, so I am terrified of how long it will take me to complete the final, which was entirely draining and all I wanted to do afterwards was let my brain relax-AKA watch a bunch of TV and do absolutely nothing. It's a good thing Christmas break follows this final, otherwise my brain just might explode.

I think I will take it early Thursday morning.

Wish me luck.

Lately, it seems like Christmas parties have been filing up my calendar. I love this time of year. All the yummy food, cute decor, and fun festive outfits!

Love-Love-Love!

I am even enjoying the snow-covered ground (now that it is no longer snowing and the roads are clear and dry.) Snow is really that final accessory that makes it seem like Christmas.

Since we will be in Sacramento for Christmas break, I debated if I wanted to decorate our little home in Provo. That debate quickly ended and I got out the decor from last year and bought some new items. Nothing too fancy-schmancy, but a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I think it's cute! Perhaps I shall post a pic or two.

Today we are also getting visitors!

Yay!

My in-law's, Kathi & Robin are flying in today and will be staying with us for a few days for Kevin's cousin, Taylor's wedding this Friday.

I love weddings.

I wish I could get married to Kevin again every year.

We are excited for Kathi & Robin to stay with us.

We love company!

All of Kevin's recording/music/whatever equipment has been pushed to the back of the room. And now it kind of resembles a guest room.

The whole process of moving his stuff was kind of funny- now that its over.

It was like... every time I went to move, unplug, lift, or even touch ANYTHING...Kevin would flip out. The guy is serious about his equipment. I ended up just sitting, watching, and trying to direct the traffic.

My hubby-wubby turns 24 this Saturday. Can you believe that?!

24 years old.

Daaaaaaaaaaaang!

24 sounds sooooo old!

haha...

I am just kidding.

But if Kevin is turning 24, that means I am turning 23 in a few months.

OH MAN.

I am seeing a quarter-life crisis coming on...

Tomorrow, marks my brother's one year mark. We all know what that means! Just one more year to go! Oh that will be one happy day when he comes home. I get SO excited when I think about it. I can only imagine how excited I will be when the finally arrives. But now matter how excited I will be, I know my parents will be even more excited to see that guy.

I have no words to explain how excited I am to spend Christmas with my family. Everyday, my mom and I are calling or emailing each other about stuff we want to do while we are there. We have a ton of recipes we plan on trying out. All plans for dieting and eating healthy have already been thrown out the window. But it will be so worth it :) I am excited to be home for the holidays and have no worries about school and just relax.

Be back later.....

So yeah...

It's finals week...

And I'm busy...

Liam & Santa

As I am sure you have noticed...

We are CRAZY about our nephew Liam.

He's our first and only nephew at the moment.

I blog about him all the time and post tons of pics.

Don't you love it?!

So this post about him shouldn't surprise you...

Liam met Santa for the first time last weekend!

Besides feeling bad for the poor kid, aren't these pics HILARIOUS?!

I SO wish I was there to see his visit in person.

Every time I look at the pics I crack up!

Oh how I love that kid!

Yikes

I am so, so, so, SO glad I do not have to go to class today.

This is what it looks like outside.

It has been snowing non-stop today.

I am loving it from inside the house. The snow looks so pretty and it finally looks like Christmas time outside!

I have no need to drive anywhere and I plan to stay home all day :)

But I know I WILL NOT love it one bit tomorrow as I head to my 8AM class.

Let's hope it stops snowing soon.

Oh, and I heard it snowed in Antelope last night.

CRAZY!

I only remember it snowing once in my life in Antelope.

It was my sophomore year of high school during the 10min break and no one went to class.

Of course the little tiny flakes falling from the sky could barely pass as snow.

But still!

It was exciting.

Maybe Kevin and I will have a white Christmas after all!

And....

This is it my friends!

We are heading into the FINAL week of classes for the semester!

WAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!

This semester had to have been the fastest semester in history. Like seriously, time flew by over the past couple months.

I love the end of semesters.

It's either Christmas or Summer.

Life doesn't get better than that!

Even though life was miserable the 2 weeks before Thanksgiving Break, I am glad my teachers had everything due during that time so I can enjoy the final week of classes.

Finals shouldn't be too hard this semester, thank goodness.

So life is good!

And then after break...

Kevin and I begin our FINAL semester of college!

YAYUH!

About time, wouldn't ya say?

Pumpkin Cheesecake

MmmHhmm Good!

Kevin's Aunt Terri sent me the recipe to the oh-so-yummy pumpkin cheesecake she made for Thanksgiving. I made it Saturday and we had it for dessert on Sunday.

Oh boy, it was sooo tasty. I love pumpkin and I love, love cheesecake, so put them together, and I am in taste bud heaven.

Here is my lovely husband modeling the 2 delicious cheesecakes:

Not to mention the jersey he's had since he was a little kid that used to belong to his dad.

Kendra enjoying her first bite.

Kevin enjoying his piece of the cheesecake.






The recipe wasn't too hard at all!
But I should probably practice a few more times during Christmas break :)

Freeze Fest

Friday night, Kendra and I went to the Seven Peaks Ice Arena for BYUSA's Freeze Fest.

And boy, we were definitely freezing!

For some reason, I thought it would be warm inside, so didn't bring a jacket.

What was I thinking?!

Cold inside an ice skating rink?!

There was cookie decorating, different flavored hot chocolate, ice skating, hockey, a stocking making craft, and a dance!

I think I was most excited for the cookie making.

Kendra frosting her cookie!

Here I am starting to decorate my cookie! It was delicious!




Ta-Daa!
I decorated and ate a few more, which led to a tummy ache.
And of course I decorated a few to bring home to Kevin.





Enjoying our warm hot chocolate. I flavored mine with hazelnut and Kendra flavored hers with mint. They had candy canes to stir the hot chocolate.

This last pic is of us while on the dance floor. The music they played was alright. I was disappointed. Usually the music is much better.

Besides being so cold while we were there, I had a pretty good time! Kevin didn't come and I definitely missed him on the dance floor. Kendra was miss popular throughout the night. Everywhere we went boys were coming up to say "Hi".

I felt kind of old being there since the majority of the crowd were freshman. It's crazy how young they look to me. But I guess 4 years is kind of a big difference.

Yeah, the cookies definitely made it all worth it.

Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

I lost my 30g Ipod at the gym.

No one has turned it in.

I have already lost my 4 g Ipod and I have no clue where it is.

And I lost my favorite water bottle on campus.

It fell out of my backpack somewhere and no one has turned it in either.

We are too poor to just go buy a new Ipod.

Half of the songs on my Ipod are not on my Itunes; they are now lost forever.

My life will be musicless now.

I told Kevin I hoped something terrible would happen to whoever found/stole/kept my stuff.

He told me that was not nice and told me to not think evil thoughts.

I felt bad.

Why do I lose important stuff?

I saw a cute dress and bought it in hopes of feeling better.

I think it worked.

But I still miss my Ipod(s).

And water bottle.

BYU craziness

Among all the ridiculousness I see at BYU...

Guys still wearing pooka shells...

Girls with REALLY poofy hair in the back...

Super baggy jeans on guys...

Saggy backpacks...

Crocs EVERYWHERE...

People overly obsessed with the 80's...

People who sing, LOUD and to themselves while walking to class...

Guys with the tips of their hair bleached...

Way too much PDA...

etc...

The absolute worst of them all that I do not understand whatsoever...

Wearing a short sleeve shirt and shorts when the high for the day is 29 degrees.

Like really, who does that?! What are these people thinking?! 29 degrees is below freezing! I can't help but stare at them and wonder if they are trying to hide how cold they really are and wonder what the heck they were thinking when they got dressed that morning.

Did they forget it was December?

Did they forget they live in Utah?

Did they forget it was just as cold the day before?

Are they a vampire or werewolf?

Are they trying to be cool or prove something?

Do they want the attention?

Do they not have winter clothes?

I DON'T EVEN KNOW!

But for some reason it really bugs me and makes me even colder.

Khols Cash?!

So about a month ago, we got a little coupon thingy in the mail from Kohls.

I love getting the mail and will look through whatever we get, even though most of the time it really is just junk.

So I see the little ad from Kohls and it said that I could get $10 off a purchase of $10 or more!

Hmmm....

So does that mean I could find something for $10.50 and really only pay $.50???

Sounded good to me! Any excuse to shop is great. And I decided that my goal was to spend less than 5 bucks. Gotta love being a poor, married, college student!

So I headed to Kohls. I never really go there, so I had no idea what to look for. I figured the least I could get was a pair of socks for Kevin or something. So I walk in the store and *BAM* big 'ol CLEARANCE signs catch my eye. I love when I find good deals. I don't know about you, but when I find something in my size and it's the only one left, I feel like it's meant to be and i HAVE to buy it.

I begin to search through the extremely messy, unorganized clearance racks. As I start to get frustrated, I remind my self that Kevin has class till 9pm tonight anyways, so what's the rush? After a bit of a while, I came across some flannel.

Hmm... flannel... definitely trendy at the moment, but do I really want to be part of that trend?

Oh, but it's Christmas colors and looks so cozy!

Then I imagined myself wearing it during Christmas break and how festive the shirt was.

Well, there's absolutely nothing else here and since I HAVE to get something to SAVE money...

I'm just going to get it and I will wait to wear it after Thanksgiving.

PERFECT!

So I check the price tag... $10.25... OH MY GOSH...

AND

the only one in my size

This is the perfect example of one of those meant-to-be/have-to-buy moments.

Then I look up and see that all clearance items are an additional 25% off.

Oh no...

There goes my perfect plan. But I decided rather than give up, I would find something for a couple of dollars. My first thought was to get a chocolate bar that I so happened to notice by the register. Quickly, I reminded myself I ate like 4 cookies at home before going shopping.

Let's see...

I started to wander around the store. Earrings? No, I am still entirely in love the the ones my parents bought me that match my wedding ring. So I walked around the store like twice and then finally saw a bunch of candles by the register! And they were like $3 or something like that.

BINGO.

I picked out my favorite one (a Christmas scent of course) and headed to the register.

Total was:

$2.77

Wahoo! A shirt and a Candle for $2.77.

This shirt is officially the cheapest shirt I have ever purchased.

I finally wore it yesterday and definitely enjoyed it's cozy warmth. I did feel a little silly when I would walk by other girls wearing similar flannel shirts, but oh well!

December 1st

You know what that means!!!!

Day One of the Advent Calender!

Every year, for pretty much my whole life, I have had a chocolate advent calendar during the month of December. This was so exciting for my brother and I back in the day. Well, it's still exciting for me. I remember checking the calendar some nights, just so I could memorize where the little door for the chocolate for following day was, just so that I could get to it before my brother. It was almost like a race. Why was everything a competition between us? Who knows. Some days, I was even sly enough to talk my brother into giving me his chocolate too. I was such a nice sister.

Christmas time wouldn't be the same without the chocolate advent calendar.

So when I left for college, it was up to me to keep the tradition alive.When Kevin and I were dating, I got one for him too, but he wasn't excited like I was and fell behind on his calendar. Naturally, I had to make up for his non-excitedness about a chocolate a day until Christmas; so I ate most of his for him.

It's crazy how the taste of the chocolate is the EXACT same each year. And it's such a distinct chocolate taste. Some might say it's nasty-cheap chocolate. But I like to say it's almost-Christmas-time chocolate. My first piece was the true beginning of the holiday season for me!


AND...
When I opened my first piece, it looked like Kevin was a little jealous of my super-excited-holiday spirit. He even asked me to split it with him. I said no. Gosh I'm mean. But he was with me when I bought it and I asked him if he wanted one...twice!
So that's his fault right?!
Maybe I need to be a little nicer and share.


Ehhh... I 'll go buy him his own.

Rock 'N Roll Liam

Liam is just too cool.

Sorry the video is so dark.

Newport Temple

My sister-in-law, Laci's fiance, Danny (that's a mouthful), went to the temple for the first time while we were in town. We were so lucky to be there with him. The temple is such a happy place and I enjoy going each time. I particularly like the Newport Beach Temple, probably because it reminds me so much of the Sacramento Temple, which will always be special to me since that's where I got married!

Before leaving, we snapped a few quick pictures:

One with Kathi.

And one with Robin.




While waiting for everyone outside, these are the two pictures that were taken:

A ridiculously blurry picture of my hottie hubby.

And a terrible photo of me.

I really think an SLR camera would have made the last two pictures good ones. Perhaps a Canon Rebel XSI. I have already sent my letter to Santa and I am on my best behavior :)

The Best Pizza EVER

Every time we are in California, Kevin and I always have a list of things we want to do or people we want to see.

Going to BJ's is always at the top of that list.

The pizza at BJ's is by far the best pizza I have ever had. Kevin and I are big pizza eaters. Once a week we will have pizza; be it from a restaurant, Little Ceases, Digiorno, homemade, or whatever. We just like pizza, especially pizza from BJ's. I don't even know how to describe it or what makes it better- it's just DANG good! Every weekend or anytime Kevin and I go out to eat when in Provo, one of us will always say, "I wish there was a BJ's around here".

So naturally, we went to BJ's while we were home during the break. And we went with a group of friends, which made the outing even better!

See for yourself the delicious goodness.

Looking at this pic make me wants some BJ's pizza every time.

Nick, Steve, and Dan enjoying the meal

Richie & Emileah enjoying their meal as well, with Kenna sleeping and Liam being his crazy self.

Nick & Mandi

Dan & Kanani

Danny & Laci

Me & Kevin

Here we all are!

Can't wait to go back again!

Luckily the next trip to CA is just a few weeks away!

Good Movies

During the break, Kevin and I went on a few Cinematic Adventures.

Of course we had to see New Moon. We decided to wait a week before heading to the theater. We hoped that by then, all the screaming tweens would have seen the movie enough. But of course we were wrong. The theater was filled with the young girls. Luckily the screams weren't too excessive.

I thought the movie was pretty good; way better than Twilight, that's for sure. Some parts were still cheesy of course, but what do you expect from that type of movie?!

But we saw another movie that I thought was SO GOOD:

OH-MY-GOSH


I loved, loved, loved every minute of it. The story line was good, the acting was good, EVERYTHING was good.

Thanksgiving 2009

We spent Thanksgiving day at Kevin's Uncle & Aunt- Bill & Terri's house with the rest of the family.

It was fun to spend time with family and eat some good food!

Emileah, Liam, Me, Kenna, and Shalee.

Liam & Noah- excited to see each other and show how much they love each other, with help from Grandma and Grandpa.


Liam was talking on the phone with his aunt Kendra when he noticed the pumpkins and then that was all he would talk about.

Emileah & Richie.

Danny & Laci.

Meredith & Noah.

Liam found this little stool that was just his size. He liked it so much he carried it with him everywhere!

Me & Kevin.

Kevin eating some yummy turkey!

Laci & Danny taking the after-eating-a-big-yummy-thanksgiving-meal nap.

Playing with Liam makes me happy :)

Noah is such a cutie too.

I love how he liked to be held and he was so friendly!

Noah & Liam on the piano.

The last little bit of my favorite dessert of the day- Pumpkin Cheesecake! Terri made it and I absolutely fell in love. I am excited to attempt making it myself!

Liam also loved all the yummy desserts.

Here's some pics of everyone relaxing and spending time together.

We definitely had a Happy Thanksgiving.

A VERY Happy Thanksgiving.

Random Fun

Spending time with family is probably the best part of the holiday season.

And when we are with Kevin's side of the family, there is A LOT of family to spend time with! Which makes everything so much fun! We couldn't wait to spend time with our niece and nephew. It was crazy to see how much Liam grew over the past 3.5 months. And we got to meet our new niece Kenna!

Kenna is the sweetest baby I have met. She is so calm and beautiful. You would have never guessed that she has already been through a major surgery and is dealing with bilary atresia. We love her so much and can't wait to see her again at Laci's wedding!

One of the nights, I was holding her while she fell asleep. That was the first time I held a sleeping baby! I absolutely loved watching her finally drift off to dreamland. It was the greatest thing ever.

Danny and Laci made some YUMMY apple pies. I am not really a "pie person" and it took me a little while to finally try a piece. I don't know what I was thinking. The pies were DELICIOUS. I definitely ate a couple pieces to make up for taking so long to try a piece.

When they weren't baking pies, Laci and Danny were preparing their wedding initiations to send out! Their big day is just around the corner!

We also got to hang out with a bunch of cool kids.

Steve, Nick, Richie, Kevin, and Dan- well, actually, Dan's hand.

BFF's. (haha)

And of course, Liam. As you can see, he plays the drums.

He's a wild child and I love him. I wish he could stay little forever. But I bet Richie & Emileah beg to differ.

I think he loves me too.

I can't get over how CUTE he is! You'd be crazy and no longer my friend if you disagree with me. And Liam has a blankey! How cool is that?!

UT to CA

I seriously can't believe how fast this semester is flying by. Thanksgiving came up on us so fast! I almost couldn't believe it. No complaints here! We love spending time with family, it just stinks having to make that dang 9 hour drive. We packed up and headed out Tuesday afternoon, in hopes of avoiding traffic. The drive ended up not being too bad. For some reason, road trips always feel longer when the sun goes down during the drive. Why is that?

The view out my window for basically the whole trip. So exciting right?

Here we are! Kevin looking oh-so-cute in my sunglasses. Luckily we are just so into each other that we were able to keep each other entertained most of the drive.

Happy to be on vacation!

Loves.

Just watchin' the sun go down. Kevin loves me so much, that he drove the whole way! Yay for me! And we didn't get stuck in traffic!